Score: Elmira College 3, Ithaca College 2
Score: Ithaca 9, Elmira 5
Records: Elmira (7-9, 4-4 E8), Ithaca (11-8, 4-3 E8)
Location: Dunn Field -- Elmira, New York

ELMIRA, N.Y. -- A thrilling walk-off victory in the first game highlighted Elmira College baseball's split of an Empire 8 Conference doubleheader with Ithaca College at historic Dunn Field on Sunday afternoon. The Soaring Eagles completed a comeback in the opener to win by a final score of 3-2, before falling to the Bombers in the late game, 9-5.

For the first time in Elmira's brief three-year history, the Purple and Gold defeated their Route 13 rivals by overcoming a 2-1 deficit in the bottom of the seventh in the early game. In what turned out to be a pitchers' duel between IC's Tom Cosentino and EC starter Conor Bawiec '18, a trio of slow rollers in the infield proved to be detrimental for the Bombers.

Ithaca closer Andrew Bailey began the seventh by walking Nate Hanner '18 on four pitches. Pinch-runner Sam Plaugher '20 then moved to second when Bailey was penalized for a balk, and advanced to third on a Jansen Crossley '20 groundout, putting the tying run just 90 feet away with two outs.

Just when it looked as though the Bombers would escape with the victory, Bailey was unable to gather an otherwise routine grounder just to the right of the mound off of the bat of Harrison Zambarano '19. The errant play allowed Plaugher to tally the tying run, while putting the eventual winning run on base.

The next batter, Will Jenkins '19, legged out an infield single hit to third base, and heads-up base running by Zambarano moved the winning run to third. Bryce Plante '19 then drove in the game-winner in the following at-bat with another slow roller, this time towards Ithaca second baseman Josh Savacool, who was unable to convert what would have been a highlight-reel barehanded snag on the edge of the infield grass.

Bawiec was the pitcher of record for the Soaring Eagles in game one, as the right-hander posted the second complete-game victory of his junior campaign. He scattered two runs on four hits and four walks, while striking out four. Bawiec also picked off a pair of base runners, as he faced the minimum in the first, third, sixth, and seventh innings.

In the second game, the Soaring Eagles pounded out four runs on five hits in the fourth inning to take a 4-2 lead, but were unable to hold on down the stretch. Back-to-back doubles from Dylan Bellinger '18 and Hanner drew the score even at 2-2. Following a Dennis Rudolph '18 single, Ithaca starter Logan Barer hit two straight batsmen to force in the go-ahead run, before being lifted in favor of Chris Marinaccio. Marinaccio surrendered an RBI base knock to Jenkins, but escaped the jam with a punch out and an inning-ending double play.

The Bombers regained the lead with a three-run sixth inning, which began with a solo jack by Ryan Henchey. Ithaca took a 5-4 lead and chased Nick Sampogna '18 from the mound on three straight one-out singles, and tacked on another run on a wild pitch from reliever Joe Kidd '18.

Elmira scratched across one run in the home half of the eight to come within two. After Rudolph reached base on an Ithaca error, he scored on a Crossley pinch-hit single. The Bombers then moved first baseman Webb Little to the mound, and the he stranded the tying runs on first and second by fanning both batters he faced in the eighth. The Bombers added insurance in the ninth with a run-scoring triple and sacrifice fly, and Little retired the Elmira side in order to secure the victory in the nightcap.

In Their Own Words...
Head Coach Corey Paluga on the walk-off win against a tough Ithaca team...
"The situation going into the inning was something that we've at least experienced, being down a run or two in the last inning wasn't an unfamiliar situation. How it panned out doesn't necessarily look as pretty as it could have been with the infield singles, but you have to appreciate guys going up there and still embracing the situation."

Coach Paluga when asked about getting the program's first victory over a regional power in Ithaca College...
"It's a great accomplishment against a program with their tradition and pedigree. There is a reason why they're in the regional conversation on a regular basis. What I hope our players realize that, although we are not there right now, we are going in the right direction to where we want to be. Do we want to win more than one game in a three-game series? Of course, but winning one was not only an accomplishment against a team we had not beaten yet, but important to our goal of getting into the conference tournament."

Coach Paluga on Conor Bawiec's complete-game effort in the walk-off win...
"Conor threw a great game. Going back to a similar game against Rutgers-Camden earlier in the year, I think this game was the better of the two because of who we were playing against and the fact that he kept us in the game the whole way to give us the opportunity in the bottom of the seventh."

Inside the Box Score (Game One)

• Elmira scored three runs on six hits, while the Bombers scored twice on four hits.
• Bellinger finished 2-for-3 with a double and solo home run.
• Jenkins also went 2-for-3 for Elmira.
• Plante's lone hit of the game came in the seventh inning and plated the game-winning run.
• Zambarano scored the winning run.
• Domenic Boresta paced IC with two hits.
• Bawiec pitched a complete game, allowing just two runs on four hits with four strikeouts.
• Bailey was the tough-luck loser, having surrendered two unearned runs in 1.0 innings of work.
• Cosentino gave up just one run on four hits en route to the no decision.

Inside the Box Score (Game Two)

• The Bombers outhit EC, 15-to-9.
• Four of Ithaca's hits went for extra bases, including Henchey's homer.
• Bawiec had a game-high tying three hits.
• Hanner was 1-for-4 with a two-run double.
• EC's only other extra-base hit was a Bellinger double.
• Rudolph finished 1-for-4 with a pair of runs scored.
• Sam Little and Adam Gallagher each had three hits for Ithaca.
• Sampogna took the loss after allowing six runs on 12 hits in 5.1 innings with four strikeouts.
• Kidd pitched 2.1 innings in relief and fanned three.
• Marinaccio picked up the victory with 4.1 relief innings for Ithaca.

News and Notes

• Elmira is 7-9 overall and an even 4-4 inside conference play.
• EC improved to 4-3 in home games at Dunn Field in 2017.
• The Soaring Eagles earned their first-ever win against Ithaca in the first game, and are 1-8 all-time against the Bombers.
• Sunday's game one was also the team's third walk-off victory this season and the fourth in program history.
• Bellinger hit his second homer of the season and the ninth of his career in the early game.
• Bawiec earned the fourth complete-game victory of his career.

Up Next
The Elmira nine will return to action following finals week with a three-game set against Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, New Jersey. The E8 series with the Ducks will begin with a twin bill on Friday, April 14, at 4:00 p.m.